Technology in Property & How It’s Changing the Industry

Technology is a significant part of life as we know it. There are very few aspects in our day to day lives that there aren’t helped by our use of technology. And as technology improves, it only makes the next jump to quality and advancement happen that much quicker.

Technology in the property industry, at a high level, hasn’t really changed for many years. The introduction of the internet enabled companies like Rightmove and Zoopla make hundreds of thousands of properties available at a click of a button. Development in camera quality has made Estate Agents lives easier to better promote the homes for sale. But after a period of stagnation, new advances in technology are creeping again into the property industry. Below are some of our picks for technology in property that is disrupting, in a good way, the industry:

Virtual Reality Technology

Virtual reality is conceivably the most common and used technology being utilised by the property industry. It is used almost exclusively to market and sell properties. Goldman Sachs have suggested that VR technology in the property industry is already worth approximately $1bn globally. And they are expecting it to triple by 2020.

This means that buyers can now view 10 properties in the time it would take to do one conventional viewing. A big part of the VR technology market is also from overseas investors. Being halfway round the world makes viewings that much more difficult. Using the English market as an example, there is always high demand from foreign investors. And now with the ability to view what you are buying, you can expect business to grow even more rapidly., thanks to this particular technology shaping the property industry.

3D printing

This has really taken off in recent years and you can understand why. Companies who use 3D printers can ‘build’ houses now in a matter of hours rather than weeks or months. And if we look at the housing crisis in London, which is a major issue facing current and future home owners, the prospect of quickly built new homes really catches the eye.

According to WinSun, a Chinese property developer using printer technology, 3D print saves the the whole process between 30-60% on construction waste, decreases production time by up to 70% and saves on labour costs by between 50-80%. With this kind of impression, this is certainly one technology in property that we can expect to see more of.

Drone Usage

This particular tech in property may not be as well known, but drone usage is becoming common place amongst surveyors. A report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors recently stated that benefits of using drones were:

Better quality images

Better time management

Reduced survey time

Other environmentally friendly matters, such us reduced fuel consumption thanks to the drones being equipped with rechargeable batteries and not generating fumes

With time being saved and higher quality images being the the result of drone usage, amongst other positives, we’d expect this technology to become the norm in the industry.

The internet

It may seem like a silly thing to say but as more and more information becomes available to everyone, everywhere, more and more people are aware and educated. This of course is not just limited to the property industry but everything, worldwide.

From a property investment perspective, it has helped things like crowdfunding really kick start and is now one of the fastest growing property investments of choice. It has helped companies like ourselves with our Life Tenancy investments fill part of the gap left by Regulated Tenancies and investors of Regulated Tenancies have been able to find us and get in touch to invest.

This is only the beginning. As technology continues to develop and grow, so will its influence on the property market. We hope you enjoyed our rundown of technology in property and how it’s shaping the industry.

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